1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to metal roll-forming machines that are configured to form desired shaped pieces from sheets of metal material and more particularly to a multi-axially adjustable roll-forming machine that is multiply variously adjustable and capable of easy and rapid tooling configuration modifications to allow the production of formed pieces having a variety of different desired shapes and configurations, including pieces in stacked and assembled configurations.
2. Background Information
Shaped metal pieces are utilized in a large variety of consumer and industrial goods, including metal and formed metal pieces from roofing material to trusses, shelving, car parts, and home and garden devices. In order to obtain shaped metal pieces having a desired shape, metal can be pressed or bent. One way that this is done is through the process called press forming wherein a press brake applies a force to a sheet of metal material in order to form that material into a desired shape. One of the major disadvantages with this process is the time involved in obtaining a number of such pieces, since each piece must be pressed and formed.
Another type of forming method that is used particularly when longer pieces are to be formed, is called roll-forming. Roll-forming involves forming pieces by feeding a sheet of material, usually a form of sheet metal, through a series of rolling apparatuses, which sequentially exert bending forces upon the material so as to deform the material and attain the desired profile for the piece. This method works very well if all of the pieces are generally the same width, the same thickness or gauge, and will be formed into generally the same shape or family of shapes.
However, when variations in width, gauge or desired shape occur, the configuration and set up of the roll-forming components must be rearranged to accommodate for these changes. In some situations, the machinery involved is simply incapable of any modification that would be sufficient to bring about these changes. Therefore, new machinery or roller components must be brought in or changed out. This can be a tremendously expensive and a time-consuming ordeal. In other situations, machinery can be modified to achieve the desired result. However to do so requires a substantial amount of time and requires that production of the pieces be stopped while the changeover takes place. As a result of this general inflexibility, most roll-forming machines are limited to primarily forming one or two parts or shapes of a group of pieces or to be uniquely set up for the production of high volumes of one particularly shaped part.
Therefore what is needed is a roll-forming device that provides simple and efficient configuration modification so as to accommodate a variety of shaped and dimensioned pieces and to form these pieces into a variety of desired shapes oriented in a variety of positions. Such a device would allow an operator to variously adjust the receiving aperture portion of the device to provide for variations in the width of the materials to be formed and the thickness of the material. What is also needed is a roll-forming device that has adjustably selectable roll-forming portions that allow an operator to selectively vary the shape and orientation of pieces that are created and formed within the device. What is also needed is a device that accomplishes the aforementioned aims and which is configurable for automatic configuration modification.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a roll-forming device that provides simple and efficient configuration modifications so as to account for variations in widths of materials to be formed, thickness of material to be formed, and/or to vary the shape of pieces to be formed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll-forming device that is easily and quickly adjustable thus allowing a greater variety of pieces to be formed than those that can be formed with the devices that currently exist in the prior art. Another object of the invention is to provide a roll-forming apparatus that provides increased bending capabilities. Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll-forming apparatus that produces automatically stacked pieces, which increases the efficiency of the roll-forming apparatus and eliminating the need for the purchase of an additional stacking machine. Another object of the present invention is to provide such a device that is capable of automatically varying the length of all defined areas of the components either manually or automatically. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device that provides all of the above-stated objects and is economical to manufacture, flexible in operation and set up, and affords ease of operation, maintenance, and set up.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.